Quick-Fix Cookies

These quick-fix cookies are a clever weeknight cheat sheet for turning two rolls of refrigerated dough into something that actually looks homemade. One roll of chocolate chip dough becomes elegant little sticks rolled between the palms, baked, and drizzled with melted dark chocolate. The other roll of plain sugar cookie dough gets pressed flat, dusted with orange zest, and cut into leaves brushed with egg white wash and cinnamon sugar.

The secret to the leaf cookies is the 10-minute freezer rest after pressing in the orange zest. Cold dough holds the cutter shape sharp and crisp through the bake, while a soft warm dough spreads into formless blobs.

The egg white and water wash is what gives the sugar leaves their glossy, glassy crunch. The cinnamon sugar bonds to the wet wash and crackles when you bite in.

Pro Tips

• Use a freshly opened roll of dough. Dough that has sat opened in the fridge for a week dries out and cracks when you try to pat it into a thin rectangle.
• Roll the chocolate chip sticks between cool palms. Warm hands soften the dough and the sticks lose their shape on the sheet.
• Drizzle the melted chocolate by dipping a fork and waving it back and forth over the cooled cookies in fast strokes. A pastry bag works too, but the fork gives a more rustic, bakery-style look.
• Cool everything on a flat surface, not a rack. Sticks and thin leaf cookies will sag through the wires while still soft.

Variations

• Press chopped pecans into the chocolate chip sticks before baking for extra crunch and a turtle-cookie vibe.
• Use lemon zest in place of orange and finish with a thin lemon glaze instead of cinnamon sugar for a brighter, springtime version.
• Cut the sugar dough into hearts or stars instead of leaves and color the cinnamon sugar with food-grade decorating sugar for holiday-themed cookies.